In the biggest start-up financing in biotech history, Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. today was to announce that it has raised $46 million in a private placement of common stock. Ariad -- the name comes from Ariadne, daughter of King Minos of ancient Crete -- was formed in early 1991 to develop small molecules that can affect processes inside cells. "It was clear to me that developing orally active small molecules targeted within cells was the future of the industry," said Dr. Harvey Berger
Idec Pharmaceuticals Corp. on Thursday announced a new route to immune treatment of autoimmune disease, using antibodies derived from macaque monkeys. The new class of recombinant antibodies will not be subject to the same limitations as the mouse antibodies that have been the focus of therapeutic efforts, the company predicted, and may expand the number of conditions treatable by antibody therapies. The "primatized" antibodies were disclosed at the Second International Conference on Human
Applied Immune Sciences Inc. will begin within two weeks clinical tests of its stem cell separation method for bone marrow transplants in breast cancer, the company said Thursday. The Menlo Park, Calif., company (NASDAQ:AISX) said the trials will be conducted under an investigational device exemption, which it believes will speed approval for its CELLector technology. The trials will use the technology to harvest stem cells identified by their CD34 surface markers from bone marrow of patients
Syngene Inc. has filed a countersuit against Gen-Probe Inc. in U.S. District Court in Southern California in a dispute over patent rights to genetic probe products. Gen-Probe sued Syngene and its parent company, Molecular Biosystems Inc. (NYSE:MB), on March 2. The suit alleged that the companies infringed Gen-Probe's U.S. patent No. 4,851,330 by selling synthetic nucleic acid probe (SNAP) culture identification kits for the detection of M. avium complex and M. tuberculosis. The patent covers
Quidel Corp. said Thursday that it has signed cross-licensing agreements with Becton Dickinson and Co. for two immunoassay technologies. Terms weren't disclosed. The companies exchanged licenses to San Diego-based Quidel's specimen delivery technology for immunoassays (U.S. patent No. 4,818,677) and Becton Dickinson's particulate detector technology for immunoassays (U.S. patent No. 4,703,017). Quidel's technology is used to focus samples used in diagnostic flow-through tests. Becton Dickinson
Baxter International Inc. on Tuesday announced it will acquire almost 12 percent of United Biomedical Inc. and will finance up to $10 million of research and development of United's synthetically produced AIDS vaccine. Baxter will gain exclusive worldwide distribution rights to the vaccine. In addition to the undisclosed equity investment, Baxter will make milestone payments. The Deerfield, Ill., company is making the investment because the vaccine research "is intriguing," and United has had
Pharmatec Inc. and Pharmos Corp., in the process of closing a $53 million merger, have entered into an option agreement to acquire Xenon Vision Inc. The two companies, which are combining their drug delivery technologies, would acquire the developer of site-specific ophthalmic drugs in an exchange of stock valued at about $8 million. If the option is exercised, shareholders of privately held Xenon would receive 2 million shares of Pharmatec stock (NASDAQ:PHTC), which would be restricted from
Cambridge NeuroScience Inc. on Wednesday said that it is beginning pilot Phase III trials of Ectapram, which is thought to reduce unwanted side effects of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Cambridge NeuroScience plans to run two consecutive studies of Ectapram (pramiracetam), which has been granted orphan drug designation. However, if the first study on 100 patients provides evidence of effectiveness, the company can complete the efficacy requirements for a new drug application and a second
Continuing a pattern set by other IPOs this month, CytoTherapeutics Inc. went public on Wednesday with a reduced-price offering of 2.25 million shares of common stock at $11. The Providence, R.I., company raised $25.8 million, but had hoped to price the shares at $12 to $14. Providing further evidence of the increasing softness in the new issues market, investors immediately drove down the stock (NASDAQ:CTII), which closed Wednesday at $9.75. Of the other four biomedical companies that have
DNA Plant Technology Corp. said Wednesday that it expects revenues from its joint ventures to triple this year from the $3.6 million posted in 1991. But the company said the increase will not put it in the black. DNAP had a 1991 net loss of $14.9 million, or 75 cents per share, on revenues of $14.5 million. Richard Laster, chairman and chief executive of the Cinnaminson, N.J., company (NASDAQ:DNAP), made the projection at the Piper Jaffray & Hopwood Agricultural Biotechnology Forum in New York
Corvas International Inc. on Wednesday said it has received a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to study the potential for a new drug design approach to accelerate discovery of therapies for heart attacks and thrombus-related diseases. The Phase I small business innovation research grant will be used to study a drug design approach called protein packing. The methodology proposes to take advantage of known rules for folding or packing together proteins to form
CellPro Inc. said that it has introduced two new Ceprate LC kits for cellular research. The kits purify T-helper (CD4) and T- suppressor (CD8) cells for research studies. In October, the Bothell, Wash., company (NASDAQ:CPRO) introduced its first kit, for the purification of stem cells. CellPro estimates the annual world market for research cell separations at $50 million to $75 million. The company's stock lost 25 cents to $11.75 on Wednesday. (c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights
Selectide Inc., a peptide-based drug discovery and development company, has raised $6 million in a venture financing round. Participants included The Global Health Sciences Fund, Technology Leaders L.P. and a group of private investors associated with International Technology Investment Managers Inc. (ITIM). The Tucson, Ariz., company raised $4 million in previous rounds since its founding in October 1990 by Stephen Evans- Freke of ITIM, Arris Pharmaceutical Corp. President Michael Ross and
Chemex Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Wednesday that its board has approved a 1-for-2 reverse stock split to become effective on April 15 for stockholders of record as of that date. The board's action combines a 1-for-4 reverse split previously approved by stockholders with a simultaneous 100 percent common stock dividend. After the reverse split, the Fort Lee, N.J., company (NASDAQ:CHMX) will have 8.2 million shares outstanding. The board decided on a 1-for-2 split because the company's situation
Biocircuits Corp. said that it has filed for an initial public offering of 2 million shares of common stock at $8 to $10 per share. The Burlingame, Calif., company is developing immunodiagnostic systems using a proprietary fluorescent molecular membrane. The degree of change in fluorescence is related to the concentration of a substance of interest, such as a virus or hormone, in the sample. Biocircuits said that its initial product, Biocircuits I, will be the first to allow physicians to
Biotech shares fell broadly again on Tuesday, continuing a retreat in the past several days toward the bottom of the sector's recent trading range. The basket of 15 stocks in the AMEX Biotechnology Index, which closed at 186.26, slipped closer to the floor that seems to have been established in the 182-184 range since the index began in October. Among individual shares, Immunex Corp. has fallen $6 to $46.75 in the past four trading sessions. Chiron Corp. is down $4 to $47.50, Synergen Inc. is
U.S. District Court Judge Robert H. Schnacke has issued a continuance in the Centocor-Xoma patent infringement trial, scheduling June 26 as the date for hearings on the terms of Centocor Inc.'s compensation to Berkeley, Calif.-based Xoma Corp. "Everything comes to a halt until June," said Centocor spokesman Richard Koenig. The Malvern, Pa.-based company must wait until the compensation is decided before filing an appeal at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. Last
WASHINGTON -- Collaborative Research Inc. has been awarded a three-year, $945,000 grant by the Department of Energy to improve a technology for cloning, sequencing and manipulating large fragments of DNA. Company scientists will produce cells with yeast artificial chromosomes. YACs are long, contiguous pieces of DNA that can carry large inserts of DNA, which can then be sequenced and ordered to construct contiguous fragments of the human chromosomes. The grant will fund the creation of a
DynaGen Inc. said on Tuesday that it has filed for a secondary offering of 1 million shares of common stock. Earlier this month, DynaGen (NASDAQ:DYGN) received its first product marketing approval from the FDA, for urine test strips to determine whether patients are taking their anti- tuberculosis medicine. The company hasn't begun marketing the strips. In February, DynaGen filed to begin Phase II trials of its NicErase System for smoking cessation. NicErase is a non- nicotine substance that
Advanced Polymer Systems Inc. on Monday said that it has regained marketing rights to its ProZone sun protection product, as well as financial considerations, from Rhone- Poulenc Rorer in a restructuring of a joint venture between the two companies. In addition to returning worldwide marketing rights for prescription dermatology products to the Redwood City, Calif., company, the deal gives APS $2 million in investment capital from Rhone-Poulenc and ownership of a nearly completed melanin
In the biggest start-up financing in biotech history, Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. today was to announce that it has raised $46 million in a private placement of common stock. Ariad -- the name comes from Ariadne, daughter of King Minos of ancient Crete -- was formed in early 1991 to develop small molecules that can affect processes inside cells. "It was clear to me that developing orally active small molecules targeted within cells was the future of the industry," said Dr. Harvey Berger